"RESPECT - The Disunity Coalition"

I have just heard the news that Newham councillors Asif Karim and Hanif Abdulmuhit have both quit "RESPECT". (Newham Recorder: Councillors quit party) It is just the latest stage in the disintegration of "RESPECT" as a political force in Newham.

In the past few years they've lost Lindsey German, their West Ham parliamentary candidate in 2005, and now two thirds of their councillors. And that's before we even start searching for what's happened to all their other one time names. Furthermore in the European elections next month "RESPECT" will not be on the ballot paper.

The two councillors in question were deselected because they were "not delivering services", nor were they attending Town Hall meetings or surgeries. It is the same old story of "RESPECT" - they get elected with a load of fanfare and then proceed to wallow in the same old extreme left infighting.

At least Asif Karim and Hanif Abdulmuhit didn't follow their Tower Hamlets counterparts in trying to create a new group on the council that also claimed the "RESPECT" name. Over there "RESPECT" split with the new group called, with not a trace of irony, "RESPECT - The Unity Coalition"!

Transport for London illogic

I've just seen the announcement about service disruptions on the Docklands Light Railway this week. (Newham Recorder: DLR Bank service to terminate early) And they just don't make any sense whatsoever.

UNPLANNED engineering works will disrupt DLR services into Bank from Woolwich Arsenal from Monday to Thursday, with trains terminating at Shadwell between 7.30-9.30am and 5-7pm. Passengers are advised to use the Jubilee line at Canning Town or Canary Wharf for journeys into central London.

Services from Lewisham to Bank will operate as normal, but may be busier than usual.

This change is due to works to the escalators at Bank station which are due to be completed over the Bank Holiday weekend with full services returning on April 14.

Or roughly translated, services from Woolwich Arsenal to Bank will terminate at Shadwell, but services from Lewisham to Bank will not and instead will run through.

But on this section of the line the two services use the same track and platforms (and all the platforms involved are basically islands served by the same lifts and escalators). So why on earth are some services being terminated early and not others for escalator works? All this will mean is that passengers from the Woolwich Arsenal branch will just cram into trains for Lewisham, with the escalators Bank having to handle the same number of passengers, albeit coming in even larger numbers at a time.

Often I really do wonder if Transport for London follows any logic when it comes to engineering works. They are creating more disruption for people travelling from the Woolwich Arsenal branch for no apparent reason whatsoever. One of the greatest sources of frustration to commuters is when the reason for disruption is not given. It would do much to reduce travelling stress if transport companies were more open about the causes of disruption, instead of giving absurd reasons like this one.

So has cheaper food arrived?

In the last week a new Tesco Express has opened literally just round the corner from me, in the old Woolworths. (Newham Recorder: New Tesco Express opens its doors to boost community - and you can win £50!) I hope that we will rapidly start to see real competition between the local supermarkets.

Ever since I arrived in Forest Gate the options for food shopping have been either Somerfield, some local individual shops or a bus ride out to a nearby big supermarket (with all the ensuing problems of getting the bags home in one piece). Somerfield is open from 0700 until 2200 on Mondays to Saturdays (but only 1100-1700 on Sundays) and its prices aren't the best; however for immediate stuff, particularly perishables, it's often the only available option.

The new Tesco is smaller, but should soon be able to adapt its stock precisely to fit the local demand. And I find the customer service much better, to say nothing of the longer opening hours. Now we have the prospect of real competition in the area, as neither store can get away with charging over inflated prices purely for the benefit of being locally accessible. And in these difficult economic times anything that reduces weekly shopping bills is welcome. Here's to some good old fashioned market competition!